Joe Flacco thinks it’s “dumb” that he’s not a starting quarterback

Joe Flacco has signed on to be the Bengals’ backup quarterback, but he clearly thinks he’s still capable of playing a bigger role.

Flacco opened the 2025 season as the starter for the Browns and the Bengals then traded for him to run their offense while Joe Burrow was recovering from injury. Flacco said on Wednesday that he’s happy to be back in Cincinnati, but questioned the wisdom of teams that passed on offering him a chance to be their No. 1 option.

“Believe me, I wish I was a guy somewhere,” Flacco said, via Ben Baby of ESPN.com. “And I think teams are dumb for not having me be that guy.”

Flacco threw for 1,664 yards, 13 touchdowns and four interceptions while completing 61.7 percent of his passes in nine appearances for the Bengals last year. Those numbers didn’t earn him a look as a starter this month, but Flacco has found paths back to the lineup in the past and other developments around the league could open another one at some point this year.